MMWC
Mathers Museum of World Cultures Summer 2017 No. 10
MMWC Receives “Bicentennial Eggs� Fall Exhibits Explore Global Cultures TAI Research=State-Wide Programs Inaugural Clowes Interns Selected
From the Director: Cultures of Making While the museum’s exhibition hall on Indiana Avenue in Bloomington will be closed this summer, the museum’s staff and students will be very busy. In much of our work, we will be exploring diverse dimensions of what Indiana University’s Strategic Plan calls a “Culture of Building and Making.” We share the campus vision in which IU has a rich, multidimensional engagement with making in all of its aspects. As a museum built around a diverse collection of objects—objects designed by human intellect, shaped by human cultures and histories, and made by human hands—we have much to offer everyone who wants to make and everyone who wants to study or better understand making. This summer we will begin work authoring a print catalogue that offers an overview of the museum’s worldwide collection. This volume will introduce the museum’s remarkable collection to new audiences and will help frame the ways that we can further support Indiana University, the humanities and social science disciplines, and our diverse audiences. The catalogue will be a means of making legible the ways that MMWC can help all who want to engage with the world’s cultures of making while also contributing to our institution’s own maker culture. Running in parallel to the catalogue effort, we are embarking on a major project to digitally photograph the museum’s collection objects. This step is a prelude to developing public internet access to our collection holdings—a key museum goal. As with the catalogue, this work will eventually assist everyone who wants to learn from—and get inspired by—the unique objects that we steward. I appreciate the special financial support that has been provided by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research to launch this digitization effort. Further afield, MMWC research associate and anthropology doctoral student Kristin Otto will continue her research on the masks of Sierra Leone and start new museum research on the making of Ghanaian fantasy coffins. I appreciate Robert and Alice Schloss for their support of our new project in Ghana. Also headed out to work with makers this summer is Emily Rogers, another MMWC research associate and anthropology doctoral student. With funding from diverse sources, Emily is beginning PhD research among the rivercane basket makers of the Choctaw people of Mississippi. As I write this column, Emily is completing her final day of service as the editorial assistant for our journal Museum Anthropology Review. In that role she did outstanding work and helped make a journal by which the scholarship on making and material culture can circulate widely. And as I noted last time, workers will be at MMWC this summer translating blueprints and designs and technologies into a new access ramp and new gallery lighting. When we see you in the fall, we’ll have a lot of stories from a summer of making. See you at the museum. Jason Baird Jackson, Director
MMWC Staff and Affiliates Staff Geoffrey Conrad, Director Emeritus Zach Evans, Fiscal Officer Theresa Harley-Wilson, Registrar Sarah Hatcher, Head of Programs and Education Jason Baird Jackson, Director Jon Kay, Director of Traditional Arts Indiana and Curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage Judith A. Kirk, Assistant Director Mark Price, Preparator Ellen Sieber, Chief Curator Matthew Sieber, Manager of Exhibitions Kelly Wherley, Facilities Manager Consulting Curators Jennifer Goodlander (Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance) Pravina Shukla (Folklore and Ethnomusicology) Graduate Assistants Amy Burgar (Arts Administration) Emily Burke (Folklore and Ethnomusiology) Joanna Burke (Arts Administration) Connor Martin (Arts Administration) Carole Pouzar (School of Music) Emily Buhrow Rogers (Anthropology) Bret Syrek (Arts Administration) Amy Tompkins (Arts Administration) Kelley Totten (Folklore and Ethnomusicology) Maria Zeringue (Foklore and Ethnomusicology) Research Associates Sara Clark (Educational Leadership and Policy) Gloria Colom (Folklore and Ethnomusicology) Elizabeth Faier (Mathers Museum of World Cultures) Janice Frisch (Indiana University Press) Page 2—Summer 2017
Research Associates (cont,) Matthew Hale (Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Communication and Culture) Carrie Hertz (Museum of Inernational Folk Art) Teri Klassen (Mathers Museum of World Cultures) Kristin Otto (Anthropology) Jodine Perkins (The University of British Columbia) Hannah Rawcliffe (Informatics) Emily Buhrow Rogers (Anthropology) Daniel Swan (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History) Kelley Totten (Folklore and Ethnomusicology) Lijun Zhang (Anthropology Museum of Guangxi ) Policy Committee Eric Sandweiss, Chair (History) Heather Akou (Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design) Gabrielle A. Berlinger (University of North Carolina) Diane Dallis (IU Libraries) Candace Greene (Smithsonian Institution) Vivian Halloran (English and American Studies) Rowland Ricketts (Textiles) Susan Seizer (Anthropology) Michael Wilkerson (Arts Administration) Ex officio Ed Comentale (Office of the Vice Provost for Research) Theresa Harley-Wilson (Mathers Museum of World Cultures) Jason Baird Jackson (Mathers Museum of World Cultures)
A research center of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research at Indiana University Bloomington, the Mathers Museum of World Cultures is an American Alliance of Museums-accredited institution offering research and training opportunities for IU students, educational support and services for IU faculty and elementary/ secondary school teachers, and familyfriendly exhibits and programs.
On the cover
Detail from above: Robert Atanasovski, Painted Justice, featured in The High Stakes of Macedonia’s “Colorful Revolution”
MMWC Receives “Bicentennial Eggs” for IU Day A special donation recognizing Indiana folk arts and Indiana University’s upcoming Bicentennial has been made to the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Carol Powers, an IU alumna and folk artist, has donated two IU pysanky to the museum--special decorated eggs in celebration of IU Day, an annual day of recognition and support for the university. “One of the best aspects of our museum’s Indiana state bicentennial activities was strengthening our relationships with the artists and communities with whom we have partnered through our Traditional Arts Indiana program,” noted Jason Baird Jackson, director of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. “It has been an honor to work with Carol Powers and it is an honor to accept her beautiful IU-themed pysyanky into the museum’s permanent collection, where they can help document the Ukranian American experience, Ms. Powers’ creative talents, and our shared love of Indiana University. We thank her for her generous gift.” The eggs, crafted with IU symbols and motifs (including the IU trident, the frangipana referenced in the university’s Alma Mater, and the university’s founding date of 1820) are carefully drawn and dyed. Powers learned the Ukrainian art of pysanky from her aunt when she was 12 years old. Her aunt learned pysanky from Carol’s grandmother, who brought the art with her when she and Carol’s grandfather immigrated to America. Using a wax-resist method, Carol draws her pattern onto an egg with a stylus and then dyes it. The wax keeps the covered area from accepting the dye. She repeats this process with successive colors until her multi-colored design is complete. Then, using the heat from a candle’s flame, she removes the wax to reveal her creation (see in the short video below). Through ornate figures and patterns, her decorative eggs express both her ethnic identity and personal creativity.
One of two “Bicentennial eggs” created and donated by Carol Powers.
documenting folk traditions of Indiana and available for free download at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/20893. Powers notes her grandmother would always have at least one egg in the house, which served as a protection from fire and storms. “It had a meaning to have one in the house,” she says.
Powers is one of several Indiana folk artists who have worked closely with the museum’s Traditional Arts Indiana program, a partnership between Indiana University and the Indiana Arts Commission, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. She’s gained recognition and acclaim for her works through numerous events and exhibits presented by TAI throughout the state in libraries, museums, parks, and the Indiana State Fair, and is featured in Indiana Folk Arts: 200 Years of Tradition and Innovation, a catalogue
(Left) Carol Powers holds one of her Bicentennial eggs. A video showing her pysanky work can be seen by clicking the image above.
Exhibition Hall Closed for Summer Renovations The Mathers Museum of World Cultures will temporarily close its exhibition hall this summer (May 8 through August 14) for renovations. The renovations will include the installation of new state-of-the-art gallery lighting systems, as well as improved accessibility features. Enhancements and modernizations to the facility have been ongoing since 2014, while the museum remained open to the public. However, the scheduled summer work requires closing public spaces. “When we reopen for fall 2017, we think visitors will really enjoy a new exhibition season presented with beautiful new lighting. There is no doubt that the accessibility improvements being made at the Mathers Museum will make a big difference, making our museum more welcoming to all visitors, ” said Jason Baird Jackson, director of the Mathers Museum. The renovations will enhance the museum’s exhibition design and presentation, as well as its educational and public programming spaces. The accessibility improvements are the first phase in providing support for visitors with disabilities. Upgrades to public spaces and parking designations are also planned. “I know the museum’s staff, students, faculty and visitors all share my appreciation for the ways the university continues to invest in the museum and its work as a public-facing research center for the humanities and social sciences,” Jackson said. Despite the temporary closure of the exhibition hall, the museum will continue to present educational programs and exhibitions throughout the community, region and state through its Traditional Arts Indiana program. Page 3—Summer 2017
From left, clockwise: Painted Justice by Robert Atanasovski, from The High Stakes of Macedonia’s “Colorful Revolution”; Beaded Syrian necklace from A Different Look at Syria; Guardian Figure (Chicken Queen) by Jennifer Reis, from Show and Tell – Making Craft at the John C. Campbell Folk School; Image from A Giving Heritage: Wedding Clothes and the Osage Community; and Cradle from A Snapshot of Pakistan, 1965: The Madge Minton Collection.
Fall Exhibits Explore Global Cultures Several new exhibits are planned for Fall 2017, all exploring global cultures and the cultures of making from around the world.: The High Stakes of Macedonia’s “Colorful Revolution” Several years ago the government of the Republic of Macedonia embarked on an “urban renewal” of the capital city, Skopje, that was seen by many as a highly divisive nationalist project, with its emphasis on monuments and new, quasi-classical facades over old buildings. In the spring of 2016, these monuments and buildings came under attack by various groups of citizens. Using paint as ammunition, they defaced these edifices in an expression of revolt both against the monuments and buildings, as well as the the perceived government corruption and disregard for the rule of law. The protests, known as the “Colorful Revolution,” are ongoing. This exhibition brings together the visual testimonies of three photographers: Robert Atanasovski, Vanco Dzambaski, and Kire Galevski. The exhibit will open August 22, and be open through December 17, 2017. A Different Look at Syria A Different Look at Syria offers a glimpse into the richness and diversity of material culture and deep history of an ancient nation that has served as a crossroads of three continents, strategic trade routes, and cultural exchange since 10,000 BC. Today, we hear of Syria in the context of its bloody civil war that has cost nearly 450,000 lives, and caused the displacement of nearly 12 million of its citizens. While acknowledging the tragedy of Syria’s present, the exhibit invites visitors to connect or reconnect with Syrian culture by learning about its jewelry and textiles to honor and preserve the work of its craftsmen, its women, and their stories. The exhibit will open September 15, and be open through January 21, 2018. A Snapshot of Pakistan, 1965: The Madge Minton Collection On her 1965 trip to Pakistan WASP pilot and herpetologist Madge Minton arrived with funding from the IU Museum (today the Mathers Museum) and a mission to collect objects used in everyday life. A Snapshot of Pakistan, 1965: The Madge Minton Collection uses these items, and the information she recorded about them, to explore the common needs all people share. The exhibit will open August 15. A Giving Heritage: Wedding Clothes and the Osage Community Beautiful jackets based on early 19th century European-American military jackets have a special place among the Osage people. Once used as gifts from American military personnel to Osage leaders these jackets can be seen as a symbol of the interplay between two cultures. In more recent years, they have also come to symbolize the joining of families through marriage or through the rituals associated with passing the drum. Hats with feathered plumes, richly adorned jackets, and finger woven sashes are just some of the items used to tell the story of cultural change and continuity. The exhibit will open August 29, and be open through December 17, 2017. Show and Tell – Making Craft at the John C. Campbell Folk School This exhibit looks at contemporary craft through the lens of the John C. Campbell Folk School, located in Brasstown, North Carolina. Each Friday, folk school students gather in the community room to show off their creations from week-long immersion courses in basket making, enameling, blacksmithing, and more. Show and Tell highlights the school’s approach to craft and individual creativity by featuring a spectrum of makers (from hobbyists to professionals) and demonstrating a diversity of materials, techniques, and interpretations. The exhibit will open August 15. Page 4—Summer 2017
TAI Research=Statewide Public Programming Although the Mathers Museum will be closed through the summer, the museum’s Traditional Arts Indiana program will be reaching out across the state with free traveling banner exhibits and programs. The exhibits and programs are the result of ongoing research by TAI to document Indiana’s traditional arts and artists through interviewing, recording, and photographing individuals and groups throughout the state about their crafts and traditions. TAI archives materials for public use in the Indiana Historical Society Library and Archive, and produces public programming to present its ethnographic research to communities. TAI also collaborates and consults with other cultural specialists and organizations about cultural documentation methodologies and presentation of materials through public programming. All events and exhibits presented by TAI are free and open to the public. The Ford Hoosier Outdoor Experience (at Fort Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana) Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11 The Ford Hoosier Outdoor Experience is Indiana’s largest, hands-on outdoor recreation event. Hosted on the grounds of Fort Harrison State Park, the free event, which features more than 50 activities and 120 grassroots partners, including the MMWC’s Traditional Arts Indiana program, for free hands-on outdoor fun. The event is presented by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation, and various sponsors, including Central Indiana Ford Dealers. For more information please visit http://www.in.gov/dnr/5009.htm. Limestone Weekend (at Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, Indiana) Saturday, June 24 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sunday June 25 (Noon to 4 p.m.) Every June, Indiana celebrates Limestone month to honor the distinctive occupational tradition of limestone work found in south-central Indiana. To mark this occasion Traditionoal Arts Indiana and the Spring Mill State Park will host a weekend of limestone programming for the public. This year limestone carver Casey Winningham will demonstrate his skills and answer questions about his craft. This event is free and open to the public. This program is made possible through funds from the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Banner Exhibit Venues April 1 to June 30, 2017 Attica Public Library, Attica, IN---Greg Adams (Willow Furniture Maker) Batesville Memorial Library, Batesville, IN---Marie Webster (Quilter and Pattern Maker) Bedford Public Library, Bedford, IN---John Bundy (Duck Decoy Carver) Brown County Public Library, Nashville, IN---Portia Sperry (Abigail Doll Inventor) Brownstown Public Library, Brownstown, IN---Portia Sperry (Abigail Doll Inventor) Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library, Evansville, IN---Greg Adams (Willow Furniture Maker) Franklin County Public Library, Brookville, IN---Bob Taylor (Wood Carver)
Hebron Public Library, Hebron, IN---Chinami Ricketts (Indigo) Huntington City Public Library, Huntington City, IN---Bruce Hovis (Basket Maker) Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library, Zionsville, IN---Bruce Hovis (Basket Maker) Jasper-Dubois County Public Library, Dubois, IN---Bill Day, Keith Ruble, and Glen Summers (Bowl Hewing) Jefferson Township Public Library, Jeffersonville, IN---Tom Wintezak (Potter) Kouts Public Library---Kouts, IN---Tom Wintezak (Potter) Lawrenceburg Public Library District, Lawrenceburg, IN---Chinami Ricketts (Indigo) Middletown Fall Creek Library, Middletown, IN---John Bundy (Duck Decoy Carver) Mitchell Community Public Library, Mitchell, IN---Marie Webster (Quilter and Pattern Maker) Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library, Plainfield, IN---Marie Webster (Quilter and Pattern Maker) Portage Public Library, Portage, IN---Katrina Mitten (Bead Artist) Salem Public Library, Salem, IN---Bruce Hovis (Basket Maker) South Haven Public Library, South Haven, IN---Bob Taylor (Wood Carver) St. Joseph County Public Library, Franklin, IN---Chinami Ricketts (Indigo) Sullivan County Public Library, Sullivan, IN---Bill Day, Keith Ruble, Glen Summers (Bowl Hewing) Tell City-Perry County Public Library, Tell City, IN---Bill Day, Keith Ruble, and Glen Summers (Bowl Hewing) University Library of Columbus, Columbus, IN---Greg Adams (Willow Furniture Maker) Valparaiso Public Library, Valparaiso, IN---John Bundy (Duck Decoy Carver) Warsaw Community Public Library, Warsaw, IN---Tom Wintezak (Potter)
Franklin County Public Library/Laurel, IN---Katrina Mitten (Bead Artist)
West Lafayette Public Library, West Lafayette, IN---Bob Taylor (Wood Carver)
Greensburg Public Library, Greensburg, IN---Portia Sperry (Abigail Doll Inventor)
Winchester Community Library, Winchester, IN---Katrina Mitten (Bead Artist) Page 5—Summer 2017
Inaugural Clowes Interns Selected Three Indiana University Bloomington students have been selected as the recipients of the inaugural Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation Internships at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Margaret Slaughter, a masters student in IU’s Department of Religious Studies, Ethan Miller, a senior in IU’s Departments of Art History and English, and Kaila Austin, a senior in IU’s Departments of African American-African Diaspora Studies, Art History, and Painting will serve as the Summer 2017 Clowes Interns at the museum. This new program is the MMWC’s first offering of competitive, paid internship experiences, building on decades of practicum student programming, and significantly increasing the MMWC’s ability to cultivate dedicated museum professionals at the undergraduate and master’s level. “We are thrilled that the Allan Whitehill Clowes Foundation has partnered with us to launch this new museum internship program,” noted Jason Baird Jackson, director of the Mathers Museum. “Because we know that paid internships are a key high-impact educational practice, they figure prominently in not only the Mathers Museum strategic plan but in the campus’ strategic plan as well. “I am extremely impressed by the quantity, quality, and diversity of the applications that we reviewed in the first round. That process suggests that Indiana University students are hungry for additional museum training opportunities and are well prepared to benefit from them.” Internship cohorts of three students per semester will participate in the program over a 10-semester pilot (fall, spring, summer) through summer 2020. On-campus internships undertaken during fall and spring semesters will enable IUB students to gain valuable work experiences without interrupting their studies by relocating to distant locations or for unrelated part-time work. The program will also advance a public service mission through the option of funding future summer session work in off-campus museums as well. This option expands the range of professional opportunities available to museum-focused IUB students, while strengthening the work of these peer institutions. “With a long-term goal of improving Indiana’s professional museum workforce, this program’s primary objective is to increase the quantity, quality, and accessibility of real-world professional development experiences available to students seeking museum careers,” said Jackson. The Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, Inc., a private foundation, was established by Allen W. Clowes, a leading philanthropist in Indianapolis, Indiana, who during his life made major contributions to various charitable organizations that promoted or preserved the fine arts, music, literature, education, science and history. Most of these organizations are located in Central Indiana. The primary mission of the foundation is to support charitable organizations that promote or preserve the Arts and Humanities and to support charitable organizations that were supported by Mr. Clowes during his life or are similar to those supported by Mr. Clowes. For information on applying for Fall 2017 internships, please see http://www.mathers.indiana.edu/ ClowesInternships.pdf. Page 6—Summer2017
Giving to the MMWC
Caring for an outstanding collection of objects and images from around the world, the Mathers Museum of World Cultures fosters research and training in the social sciences and humanities.
Donors to the Mathers Museum of World Cultures Judith Alfey Debby Allmayer and James Williams Joelle Bahloul and Marshall Leaffer Edward and Wendy Bernstein Paddy Bowman Julianne and Keith Bobay Bruce Bradtmiller and Carol Cottom Robert Braunlin Dorothy Bybee Lorraine Cashman Jessica Cattelino Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, Inc. Geoffrey and Karen Conrad Brandon Cordes Dayton Foundation Depository Emilee Dehmer Darlynn Dietrich
Mimi and Marc Dollinger Hasam and Susan El-Shamy Kirstin Ellsworth Kelly Eskew Zachary Evans Elizabeth Faier Kevin S. Greene Dell R. Hales Peter Harle Theresa Harley-Wilson Sarah Hatcher Carrie Hertz and Thomas Richardson Lisa Higgins Cynthia Hogan Svend E. Holsoe Lynn Hooker and David Reingold Aiko Hori
Suzanne and Nathaniel Ingalsbe Amy and Jason Jackson Kendall and Barbara Jackson Hilda L. Jay Keith Charles Johnson Michael Owen Jones B. David Kane Robert N. Johnson Jon and Mandy Kay Judith Kirk Teri Klassen Linda and Bret Libeno David Lottes Earl Luetzelschwab Mary Magoulick Michael McAfee Crispina McDonald Sidney and Sharon Mishkin
Selina Morales and Aaron Spector Phyllis and Vernon Paler Travis Paulin Mark Plew and Sarah Saras Louise Russell Patricia Sawin Robert and Alice Schloss Amy Schmeltz Adam and Karen Sisson Theresa Vaughan Wahl Family Charitable Trust Michael Wilkerson Abigail M. Wodock Robert Woodle Amy and Stanley Zent Martha and Charles Zuppann
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Re-opening Tuesday, August 15, 2017
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